


taokai

by dotdotmoon



Series: kiss me maybe [5]
Category: EXO (Band), Z.Tao (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Clumsiness, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Restrooms, everyone is a mess, jongin eats lipgloss for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21838318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotdotmoon/pseuds/dotdotmoon
Summary: Jongin manages to get all of his clothes irredeemably wet and has to change into a crop top.
Relationships: Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Kim Jongin | Kai
Series: kiss me maybe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1423525
Kudos: 10





	taokai

**Author's Note:**

> for this prompt: taokai + hands on the other person’s back, fingertips pressing under their top, drawing gentle circles against that small strip of bare skin that make them break the kiss with a gasp  
> (i'm only like six months late lol)
> 
> not titling these because i intend to write a bunch more and i don't have the energy or time to pick titles!!
> 
> extended content notes:  
> \- vague food mention at the end

Jongin listened for any sounds, a presence, before he got off the closed lid, unlocked the stall and went to wash his hands. He ignored the paper towels, combed his wet fingers through his hair, trying to tame his wind-blown car hair. He wiped his hands dry on his jeans, pulled them further up, then back down when he tiptoed and saw how it made his crotch look. He wasn't even sure why he'd packed a crop top as his only back-up; he liked wearing them at home, with no one around, but never outside where people looked and made him feel like he consisted of skin and body hair to gape at.

There was a knock on the restroom door, and he froze until he saw it was Zitao pulling it open.

"Gotta pee," he said, squeezing by, as if he owed Jongin an explanation. Jongin got how he thought he did; he'd been insisting he definitely didn't have to use the restroom earlier.

"Did you lock the car?" Jongin said to the mirror, an ancient reflex, now pulling the hem of his crop top down. Maybe he could stretch it out enough so it would at least go down to his belt and afford him some half-baked comfort.

"Why don't you check," Zitao said, voice muffled by the stall door but clearly annoyed.

Jongin didn't like who they became when they argued, and it was Zitao's car, so he said nothing to that, and his boyfriend was gracious enough to let it go.

The toilet was flushed and Jongin automatically made room for Zitao at the only sink. The side of his crop top was lifted and before he knew it, something wet pressed against his skin.

"I think you forgot this," Zitao told him with a grin, ignoring his shriek of protest.

Jongin plucked the tangle of a wet sweater and t-shirt off himself, tempted to toss it onto the floor but thinking better of it when he considered how his shoes were sticking to it. He rolled the clothes into a ball and gave them a nudge, bending over the sink when the foreseeable shiver ran up his spine and the nausea hit a moment later. He hoped he hadn't gotten the destination wrong this time; it had been embarrassing enough to explain how his phone had ended up inside of the cabin of someone's locked truck just yesterday. He also hoped he hadn't missed the backseat, wouldn't have to sit on a wet seat later.

Zitao peered at him out of the corner of his eye, fixing his eyeliner. "You okay?"

"Never been better," Jongin said. Running cold water over his wrists worked like a miracle cure. "Do you have the lip gloss on you, too?" he asked. His mouth felt like he'd bitten into soap, then licked a dust bunny.

Zitao nodded towards his left side. Jongin closed the tap and took the opportunity of Zitao being defenseless while washing his hands to stick his own wet hands in all four pockets of his pants, then sticking both hands into his back pockets and lingering in there until Zitao told him off.

"We're alone," Jongin said, crowding into Zitao's space to look into the mirror, and pouted a little, mostly to apply the lip gloss he'd found on the first try. It was one of those cheap roll-ons—or he assumed it was cheap, Zitao never made a fuss when he used it, and it tasted like any kid's fluid plastic sugar dream.

Zitao watched him in the mirror, then stepped behind Jongin to hug him. He sighed into Jongin's neck when he watched him licking the lip gloss off, kissed the side of his neck. "I'm getting you a tub full of this stuff for your birthday."

"Will you?" Jongin asked excitedly, turning his head to look at him.

Zitao didn't bother replying, pressed closer to lick the last remnants of the lip gloss from his mouth as his hands played with the hem of Jongin's crop top, then wormed under the fabric to rest them on his belly. He started kissing Jongin properly then, petting his almost exposed skin with a hunger to his touch, like he'd never gotten to touch him there before.

"Ticklish—" Jongin tried to squirm away while simultaneously kissing him back. They both stilled when footsteps drew closer on the gravel outside, and exchanged a smile in the mirror when one of the other restroom doors was opened, then fell shut.  
Jongin turned in Zitao's embrace, almost melting against the sink when he kissed him again, thorough but softly, his hands now rubbing careful circles into the skin of his back.

"Sure you don't want me to turn back time?" Zitao asked against his lips. "Or if you want to jump, I don't mind driving back alone—"

"This isn't worth getting a migraine over. I can deal with a little discomfort, and I'm not cutting our road trip short."

Zitao looked unconvinced but nodded, his hands wandering up to Jongin's shoulder blades. "We can eat dinner in the car later, if you want."

"I might spill my drink again," Jongin warned, leaning into Zitao's touch.

"Only water for you then."

"This is why we're not getting married," Jongin said, sighing and burying his hands in the front pocket of Zitao's hoodie.

"Not quite. I simply can't afford it because my expendable income goes into getting my car detailed every other week, for some mysterious reason," Zitao said.

"Fine, we're taking the train next time—" Jongin grumbled, gasped when the restroom wobbled around them.

"Sorry, indigestion," Zitao said when the wobbling didn't continue and they dared to open their eyes again, hands now resting over Jongin's on his stomach.

Jongin withdrew one hand to swat at his shoulder. "I knew my milkshake was lighter earlier than I'd left it. I'm not spending an entire week a year in the future again without realising—"

"I'll make up for it," Zitao interrupted him and leaned unfairly close again, scowling when Jongin turned his head so his kiss landed on Jongin's cheek.

"Nope, we're going home, you're eating your herbs and I'm sleeping over at Minseok's place."

"You should move in with him," Zitao told him on their way to the car. The air was cool, like after a long shower of autumn rain, but the ground was dry. It made Jongin shiver in his crop top, despite Zitao's arm around his waist. "He still looks like a walking nightmare, and it's been months since his break-up."

Jongin hummed. "I wouldn't have made it out of bed yet in his place." The thought of his own best friend shutting the door into his face one day and telling him to never contact him again on the next made him feel hollow with fear.

Zitao's stomach made a desperate noise, and the ground wobbled again. This time, they broke into a run. Jongin felt his heart pounding when they found themselves in the car, floating above their seats for a split second before gravity got a hold on them. Jongin pulled the dripping wet clothes out from under him, uncaring that he sat in a small puddle now, and wrapped them around his wrists as Zitao started the car. "Promise to take your drops next time you plan on stealing my drink," he groaned.

"I could have sworn you had a soy one, it did taste kind of disappointing," Zitao said, still struggling to start the car.

Jongin blinked down at his feet, waiting for the waves of nausea to ebb away. He had recently adopted a habit of ordering lactose-free whenever he could; it was impossible to keep Zitao away from his food—probably because he never ate his own. The ground wobbled again, and the car gave in to Zitao's pleads. Just when they pulled out of the rest stop, Jongin spotted two figures at one of the weather-worn wooden tables.

"I think we ran into some power folks fighting, and you're just hungry," he said slowly, then turned to look at Zitao. As if on cue, Zitao's stomach rumbled again but the car glid forward noisily, without any signs of time destabilising around them. "Four years of power camp, and you still don't know when you should feed yourself," Jongin said, but he reached out to intertwine his fingers with Zitao's on the gearshift.

"I'm a drop-out, I don't know any better," Zitao complained.

 _Same,_ Jongin thought, and pretended he hadn't seen the date that was a few years off on one of the billboards they drove by. Maybe—maybe they'd just forgotten to take it down; it was a desolate area after all.

**Author's Note:**

> blame sudi for whatever is going on at this rest stop!!
> 
> ty for reading 💦  
> and thank you so much more if you're one of the two souls still reading taokai ;;;
> 
> please let me know if it made you feel anything
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fakeclover) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/fakeclover)


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